BFMI celebrates adoption of European Media Freedom Act; warns that accession countries must not be left behind
The Balkan Free Media Initiative (BFMI) welcomes the final approval by the European Parliament of the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA) – a landmark legislation in the ongoing battle to safeguard journalistic independence in Europe.
Under this new law member states will now be obliged to enact measures that protect media independence and curb external attempts to influence editorial decisions. The EMFA also calls for transparency of ownership and for outlets to reveal any funds received from state advertising and/or state financial support, regardless of whether these funds come from an EU country. This is a significant measure to counter malign influence in the media.
Throughout the drafting and consultation process, BFMI has advocated for strong provisions to tackle media freedom concerns often seen across Balkan states: transparency of media ownership and editorial independence. We welcome the inclusion of the mandated disclosure of direct or indirect media ownership information, along with clauses designed to guarantee autonomous financing and oversight of state-controlled media.
Although disappointed that such a crucial provision is not listed as binding, BFMI also welcomes the recommendations on the disclosure of direct or beneficial ownership when held by the government or state-run enterprise, as well as the disclosure of any business interests of the media owners.
With this new legislation, the European Commission and the European Parliament have acknowledged the necessity of a unified approach to safeguarding media freedom in Europe. However, BFMI remains concerned that, in its current form, the EMFA does not include specific mandates for candidate countries, where the threat to media freedom is often greatest.
In nations ranging from Ukraine and Moldova to the Balkan states—Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Albania—upholding a free press is vital for fulfilling the rule of law criteria necessary for EU membership. As such, alignment with the EMFA must be a conditionality for EU accession. BFMI calls on the European Commission to ensure that any funding to accession states is made conditional on progress on media freedom and alignment with the EMFA.
Antoinette Nikolova, Director of BFMI, stated: "Today’s approval of the EMFA is a milestone in the battle to protect media freedom and curb disinformation across Europe. The act unfortunately excludes accession countries where media freedom is under grave attack.
European Commission must ensure that accession countries align with the EMFA and only disburse funds when these states have met the EU's media freedom standards.”
BFMI will monitor the implementation of the EMFA in Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece and Slovenia and continue to follow the media freedom situation in all Balkan countries.
